CHAPTER ONE

1.1                                                       Background of study

Every person has his/her own wants and desires, for that purpose he/she works to fulfill them. It is not enough for an employee to be satisfied materially but non material aspects are as essential as the material aspects. An employee need both to be fulfilled. Material aspects are his salary, bonuses, allowances, job security and other facilities. While non-material aspects include leaves, excellent working environment, good understanding among fellow workers and top management. All these elements have much to do with the motivation of an employee.

Employees play a very important part in the daily operations of any organization, in this context the non-academic staffs of University of Lagos. The fate of an organization is usually determined by the employees, so it sounds logical how employees can be motivated. As far as the employees motivation is concerned, employees motivational incentive program have been found to be the most commonly adopted technique among organizations. The purpose of the program is to reward productive employee’s productivity, reinforce positive behavior and stir interest in the employees. Organizational scientists are very interested in different schemes and techniques related to employees’ productivity and it’s growth incentives because it’s a very important technique every organization should implement to stimulate employees in order to get the desired results.

Human assets is considered the most important asset of any organization and in order to get efficient and effective results from human resource, motivation is necessary (Zaman 2011). Researchers divided motivation into two categories; intrinsic and extrinsic. Extrinsic incentives come from external factors such as financial rewards and needs to be refilled at regular interval so as to not lose its effect. Intrinsic motivation comes from inside of an individual and is the kind of motivation every organization wishes their employees to possess (Mundhra 2010).

Armstrong and Taylor(2010) states that employees productivity is defined as a behavior that accomplishes these results. The human resource management has a role to hire and come up with retention strategies for the best employees especially the ones holding key roles that can be difficult to replace because of the technical competencies required. Organizations consider the human capital as the main asset capable of leading them to success or if not managed properly can lead to the failure of the organization and high staff turnover (Fisher2012).

Milton(2013) defines incentives as variable rewards granted according to variations in the achievement of specific results. It is also called stimulus to a greater action. They may be used to incite action or greater efforts. An incentive is anything which can be given in addition to wages. Incentives are therefore motivation for work; it could be financial or non-financial rewards. Incentives provides zeal in the employees for better employees’ productivity .Nobody acts without a purpose behind ,therefore  a hope for a reward is a powerful incentive to motivate employees. Besides monetary incentives there are some other stimuli which include job satisfaction, job security, job promotion and pride of an accomplishment. Despite the growing body of literature and empirical studies on the effect of financial and non-financial incentives on worker’s productivity, the subject matter still remains complex. Hence the need to undertake a survey on the influence of incentives on non-academic staffs productivity in University of Lagos.

1.2                                   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The non-academic staff of University of Lagos like other public institution is constraint with the problem of majorly using extrinsic type of incentives (non-performance based element) like salaries to compensate the staffs as against performance –related (intrinsic incentives) structure which has hampered productivity because it is not enough propelling force for employees to put  in extra efforts in their job. In most cases, the salaries, benefits are not reviewed on time, if at all it is. Incentives have created a lot of challenges to employees’ input and output ,  bonus and overtime benefits has caused a lot of inequitable justice on the administration of incentive scheme. The resultant effect on employees’ productivity could be negative. The negative attributes can be seen as poor turnover, unwanted character, poor product quality improvement, job dissatisfaction, low morale, low commitment, absenteeism and poor employees’ productivity that affects input and output. Hence, the need to examine the effects of incentives on non-academic staffs of University of Lagos.

1.3          OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The central objectives of this study are to examine the effect of incentives (both financial and non-financial) on non-academic staff’s productivity in University of Lagos. Specifically the study is set out to;

1.            Identify whether Unilag remuneration is based on incentives schemes that motivates staffs to perform.

2.            To analyze the link between incentive and employees productivity in University of Lagos.

3.            Identify the different types of incentives used in boosting staff and their effects on productivity in Unilag.

4.            Find out the constraints militating against Unilag incentives scheme and make recommendations to the identified problems.

1.4                               RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The study provides answers to the following research questions;

1.            Is Unilag remuneration based on incentives scheme that motivates staff productivity?

2.            What kind of financial incentives do Unilag give to its workers and what are their influence on workers’ productivity?

3.            What kind of non-monetary incentives do Unilag use to boost worker’s productivity?

4.            What are the constraints militating against Unilag incentive schemes and how can these constraints is eliminated?

1.5                              RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

(a)          The financial incentives given to workers do not significantly predict the output.

(b)          A reviewed incentive scheme can lead to high staff productivity.

(c)           The non-monetary incentives do boost morale thus productivity.

(e)          The incentive schemes are reviewed over time and the constraints managed.

1.6                               SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study brings to light the influence of incentives on staff performance in an organization. The study will therefore be beneficial to the institution under study (University of Lagos) in areas of policy formulation as regards staff incentives schemes and remuneration.

To education, the study will contribute to already existing knowledge on the influence of financial and non-financial incentives on worker’s productivity.

Finally, to those in academics and human resource researches, the study will serve as a springboard for further investigation.

1.7                                   SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study covers an empirical investigation of the influence of incentives (financial and non-financial) on the non-academic staff of University of Lagos. The study is focused on the influence of incentives on organizational commitments among junior and senior non-academic staffs of Unilag.

1.8                         DEFINITION OF TERMS

Incentives -Something that motivates or encourages someone to do something.

Productivity- The rate at which employees work and their output in their organization.

Employee:

Non-academic Staff:

Remuneration:

Constraint: